Lymphapheresis as compared with rest period in treatment of severe rheumatoid arthritis.

In this study lymphapheresis over a 5-week period was compared with a period of rest in 8 patients with active severe rheumatoid arthritis. These patients failed to respond to gold or/and to D-penicillamine. All the patients treated by lymphapheresis improved in the first 2 or 3 weeks and one patient in the control group improved in 3 weeks. The laboratory findings and the 99mTc-pertechnetate uptake index of the joints were inconsistent. In this study lymphapheresis had a clinically modest beneficial effect which in 3 of 4 patients persisted even after 18 weeks.